Commode.



No. 638,894.. Patented Dec. I2, |899.

- J. F. V088.A

COMMUDE.

(Application led Apr. 25, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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n W22 6556's Unrrn STATES PATENT rrrcn.

JOSEPH FARDINAND VOSS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE JOSEPH VOSS, OF SAME PLACE.

COMMODE.

SPECIFICATION forming part f Letters Patent N0. 638,894, dated December 12, 1899. Application led April 25, 1898. Serial No. 678,711. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it ntf/,y (lancera:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH FARDINAND Voss, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Cincinnati,in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Commodes, of which the following is a specifcation.

The several features of my invention and ro the various advantages resulting from their use, conjointly or otherwise, will be apparent from the following description and claim.

In the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, Figure l is a View in perspective of a commode embodying my invention, the door of the commode being opento disclose the interior. Fig. 2 is a central sectional elevation of the commode from front to rear, the parts of the commode being in the position they occupy when the commode is open. It is to be observed that the section stops short of the rear leg or support, thus leaving the latter in elevation. Fig. 3 is a central crosssection of the commode when the parts of the latter occupy the position shown in Fig. 2, that face of the section being shown which in Fig. 2 faces toward the left.

I will now proceed to describe my invenf tion in detail.

The commode may in general shape be either that of a stool or chair. As a chair is the more fully-organized article of furniture and by its back and arms affords more support, rest, ease and comfort to the one occupying it than does a stool, I have illustrated my invention in connection with the conformation of the chair.

In the accompanyingvdrawings, A indicates the seat, and B the supporting part thereof. The latter is suitably made of a boX shape, having side walls B2 B2 afront wall B3 and a rear wall B4. These walls are united at or near their edges either directly or through the medium of posts B5. The latter mode of construction is preferred and is shown. These posts B5 take the place of the ordinary legs of a chair, and the edges of the walls are duly connected to them. A bottom D is present within the inclosure of the walls and at a proper distance below the seat. This bottom is duly provided with means for securing a proper receptacle (vessel) in place directly below the opening A2 of the seat. These securing means may be a place D2,

recessed out from the bottom D, leaving anA annular shoulder D3 around the place D2, or the latter may be formed by an encircling ridge or strip forming the shoulder D3. As either of these is well known as a common expedient for the other, as taste or economy and ease of` manufacture may dictate, further description thereof in this specification is deemed unnecessary. A drawer E is provided at the front of the commode and usually arranged to draw out at the front thereof.

The interior of the commode is reached through an opening F, and this opening is closed by a door G, swung so as to tightly close and to be retained in the closed position by a suitable catch. Strips G2, which serve the function of stops, preventing 'the door from swinging inward, and also serving as bearings for the door and means forI keeping the eftluvia within the box, are preferably present, as shown.

Novel and most important features of the construction of the commode are now to be described.

There is a sliding cover H, and this is arranged to slide on the seat far back, substan tially as shown. In fact, the cover slides so far back as to be nearly off the seat A. There is beneath the seat and close against the latter a sliding door or diaphragm or under cover J, and the latter is parallel to the sliding seat H and travels back and forth with it. The seatcover I-I and the slide J are each connected at their rear ends to a common connection, and the latter also serves the purpose of a support for both of them. This support K consists of a leg extending down and in turn supported by the floor on which the commode rests. Tc obviate friction, there is a roller affixed to the lower end of the support, and it is the roller which under such conditions rests on the floor. Rollers are also preferably present under the commode to enableit the more readily to be moved from place to place, as desired.

The seat-cover is provided with suitable guides for compelling it to move back and IOO forth in right lines and always return to cover the seat. Such guides are, preferably, as follows: From the top surface ot' the seat are sunk into the seat grooves L, and these grooves are usually dovetailed ones. On the under side of the seat-cover are dovetailed extensions or cleats M,Which latter respectively engage with their adjacent grooves and run therein. Thus the seat-cover, While sliding back and forth, is prevented from lateral and vertical movement, and thus kept to place. Of course the cleats or ridges M may be on the seat and the grooves L in the seat-cover, as this is a mere reversal of parts.

Guides ofthe aforenamed kind-vin, those placed under the sliding seat-cover-are pret'- erable to guides located at the outer edges of the seat-cover, because the former are concealed from view.

The top of the seat-cover may have suitable upholstering or cushioning N. The back of the seat may be upholstered or be otherwise constructed, as desired.

The under cover J is held closely to the seat A, and in aid of this I provide the guideways P, iirmly and suitably secured directly beneath the seat. The flanges P2 of these guideways embrace the under adjacent edges of the under cover and may enter recesses J2 in the under edges of the cover. Thus the two covers are held closely to the seat. They steady each other as a sliding structure conjoint with the leg K. Their close conjunction also prevents the smell and e'ftluvia from the fluids or solids deposited, as feces, in the receptacle placed in the commode from escaping from the commode.

The sliding cover is to be pressed back by any suitable means. Thus it can be pushed directly back by hand or be pulled back by grasping the leg K and drawing the latter back. A convenient means is the handle R, affixed to the edge of the sliding cover Hand located near the front edge of the latter. There should be present a suitable stop for preventing the sliding seat-cover and the under cover J from altogether leaving the seat A. Then the handle R is present, this may act as the stop as Well as a handle.

My invention is simple of construction, inexpensive of manufacture, quite portable,and very efficient in use.

It Will be understood that the flanges P2 could be upon the under cover and t recesses in the guides.

What I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a commode the combination of the seat, suitably upheld, a sliding cover located over the seat, and another sliding coverlocated beneath the seat and above the vessel,and guides for preventing lateral movement ofthe covers relative to the seat, and extensions of the covers which, when the aperture of the seat is closed by the covers, extend beyond the seat., and a supporting-leg, movable, and connected rigidly to the extended parts of the covers, the covers and their extended portions and the legs being rigidly connected together, and forming a rigid structure wherein the covers lie in planes parallel to each other, and when drawn outfrom the seat, are supported by the leg, and prevented from binding on the seat substantially as and forthepurposes specified.

JOSEPH FARDINAND VOSS.

Attest:

WM. E. JONES, B. SMITH. 

